Mike Vrabel
Mike Vrabel
Michael George Vrabelis a former American football linebacker and current linebackers coach for the Houston Texans in the National Football League. He played college football at Ohio State University, where he earned consensus All-American honors. He was chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He also played professionally for the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. After spending three years coaching linebackers and defensive linemen at Ohio State, Vrabel joined the Texans...
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth14 August 1975
CityAkron, OH
Our worst game last year was opening night against the Colts. We need to take this and build on it and move forward. We think we're a better defense than what we showed . . . but we need to go out and prove it.
I think we've got the best coach in the league. I think that was proven again tonight.
As a team, we've yet to form our identity. But every year we've proven we can play great football down the stretch. You get the sense that people are worried, but I think it's a little early to start hitting the panic button.
If I stood here and I had eight sacks and four picks, something like that, then I could say, 'Well, some other guys need to step up.' That's not the case. We all have to play better. We all realize that. We've got the guys in here that can do it. Guys have proven that they can do it.
When we went to the 4-3, I thought we gave them some problems. We're going to make changes every week on the fly. We've got a lot of different ways of being aggressive.
When we went to a 4-3, it gave them some problems. We're going to make changes every week -- between series and on the fly.
I think if you're going to give up 400 yards a game, you'd better be pretty good in the red zone. That's been our saving grace. It wasn't enough last week because obviously we lost. But we can do it. You just can't do it some games and then not some (other) games. You can't be good against the run one week (and not the next). It's (about) consistency.
That's what is all-important to everybody in here, ... that you make the decision that's in the best interest of your family.
Win, lose, win, lose . . . we've been doing that all year. We've got to start stringing a few of these together.
We'll find out ... as this season progresses. We've always had the ability to change things simply to give us the best chance to win. It's not done just to get a guy into the game.
The Patriots have sort of become the measuring stick in the NFL, but that stick isn't very high right now.
We got to 10 wins and I still think there are things we need to tighten up.
They've run away with so many games, it's pretty much been over by the middle of the third quarter. That was our whole thing, to make it a football game -- keep it competitive and have a chance to win at the end. We handle those situations pretty well.
So at 250 pounds, I was trying to play that position my first year in Pittsburgh, and soon after that we changed to linebacker, but it took some time, ... It wasn't like they didn't have good players. Obviously, you've seen the type of players that leave Pittsburgh and go on to play other places.